One of the issues that figured at the recent Zardari-Manmohan meeting in New Delhi was the case of Dr Khalil Chishti, an 80-year old, infirm and ailing Karachi-based virologist, incarcerated in India since 1992 on the charge of murdering one of his relatives during a brawl at Ajmer Sharif. After a prolonged trial lasting 18 years, Dr Chishti was handed down a life sentence. However, the Indian Supreme Court (SC) has freed Dr Chishti on interim bail, taking into account the long time Dr Chishti has spent in jail during his trial, which more or less equals the jail term he has been awarded. There are indeed legal precedents on record when an under-trial prisoner who has spent time equal to the jail term he has been awarded, was released. In view of his extremely ill health and old age, Dr Chishti deserved to be given the benefit of the SC decision on humanitarian grounds. Meanwhile a separate petition is being moved before the SC for the grant of permission to Dr Chishti to travel to see his family in Karachi. The role played by noted human rights campaigner Ansar Burney and of Senator Iqbal Haider, who have, amongst others, been highlighting Dr Chishti’s plight, needs to be appreciated. The abiding mistrust that has informed relations between the two South Asian rivals since 1947, thanks largely to the hawks on either side of the divide, needs to be mitigated urgently on a bilateral basis. The mutually hostile mindset has been a major stumbling block in improving relations. Inadvertent crossing of the border has been rather frequent by cattle-grazers living close to the border on either side, particularly in Punjab and Kashmir. The jailing of such individuals causes avoidable human suffering. The case of Indian and Pakistani fishermen who inadvertently cross into the maritime jurisdiction of the other bears a close parallel that needs also to be addressed urgently. Different rounds of composite dialogue and Track-II diplomacy have yielded appreciable results that should not be squandered. Incidentally, the logic of war is no longer feasible in the post-nuclearisation subcontinent. The two protagonists, instead of sticking to the timeworn hard line, must learn to move ahead with the changing times. Dr Chishti’s immediate release will certainly constitute an important CBM. *